linocuts, screen-prints and all the things that I create and call 'art'...

Thursday, 7 February 2019

Donkeys and dogs (and cats)..

Hi thereI'm not going to apologise for the delay in my blog update. I think you're probably used to it by now. January has proved an interesting month. It is seen by a lot of creative people to be a month to get creative, as it is a fairly quiet time for events and selling in general. However this doesn't always work out. The pressure to create, just because it is January can prove very 'uncreative'. It can make things very tricky, a little like writers-block, I guess. You just have to relax and let the ideas come.All this said, I have had a pretty creative month (phew)! I have created two (technically four) new prints and a new poster-print too.NEW PRINTS

Firstly, I have created a donkey triptych (Why, I hear you ask? Why not..), entitled 'The Donkey Trip'. It started out life as one linocut, and I've separated it into three to create the screen-print. They took quite some doing, but I'm very happy with how they turned out. The prints are A5 size, printed with the same grey and orange colours, but with a different blue/green for each print in the sky/foreground. The edition is 50, printed on 220gsm off-white paper. You can buy them individually, or all together (at a slightly cheaper price) in my Folksy shop.

Next there are two versions of a linocut I have made of a friends' dog called 'Woody'. He's a very chilled-out hound, and has that far-away look I wanted to try and capture in print. The first version is the hand-printed one. It is a two-colour screen-print, 56x38cm, printed on lovely 290gsm Antique Seawhite paper. the edition is only 20 prints. The second version is an A3 size poster print. Both are available in my Folksy shop.

Lastly, my 'Otto No.3' print sold out of its original hand-printed edition, so I have decided to create an A3 poster-print version of him, with a duck-egg blue background..

EVENTS

I've got three events coming up in March...

THE HEPWORTH WAKEFIELD PRINT FAIRFri 1st, Sat 2nd and Sun 3rd March 2019, The Hepworth Wakefield, Gallery Walk, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF1 5AW, 10am-5pmI'm so excited about this print fair! It has become the one that everyone talks about, over the last few years. The selection of artists there is really wonderful, and it is really a must for any print fans.

MADE BY HANDFri 8th, Sat 9th and Sun 10th March 2019,The Town Hall, Imperial Square, Cheltenham GL50 1QA, 10am-5pmThis will be my first time as an exhibitor to this event, which is connected to the Contemporary Craft festival in Bovey Tracey, Devon. It looks pretty big (100 exhibitors), full of all sorts of quality ceramics, glass, print, metal, paper and textiles. Tickets are available from their website.

MILLENNIUM GALLERY CRAFT MARKETSat 30th March 2019, Arundel Gate, Sheffield, S1 2PP, 10am-5pmI'm back in Sheffield for this event for the first time in a while. Great location, and no doubt a whole load of interesting art and crafts.

This workshop is an introduction to linocutprinting. There are eight places, and during the day you'll learn how to create a one-colour linocutprint (size 10.5x15cm). You'll learn how to compose your image, cut the lino and then print.

All materials are included, and no experience is necessary. Tea, coffee and biscuits are also included. There are eight places in total on this workshop, and all participants must be over 16.

About Me

Brief Biography

I've been producing printed artwork for perhaps the last 15 years. In 2010 I decided to go full-time as an artist, and I'm still at it! I specialise in linocuts and screen-prints.I graduated with a degree in Fine Art in 1995, specialising in photography (for no other reason than I didn't really enjoy painting or sculpture), and then spent the next few years in dead-end jobs and being unemployed, fighting with thousands of other arts graduates for the rare art-related jobs that appeared.Eventually I worked in a few (non art-related) decent jobs, and then discovered print-making. It was a revelation to me. A way of creating art that felt physical and quite a challenge! I'm inspired by the graphic quality of printmaking, and the way you can say a lot with very little. Artist-wise I'm inspired by people like Goya, Stanley Spencer, Max Beckmann and Egon Schiele. All quite direct artists. More contemporary people I like are the artist/graphic novelist Chris Ware, Kid Acne, illustrator Jonathan Wilkinson and cartoonist/writer Elodie Ginsbourg.So I've been doing it ever since, and now spend all my time working on it (aside from the time spent being a musician - my other passion).I've had a little success along the way being shortlisted in 2006 for the International Small Print Competition for my work 'Paris Buggy' and taking part in the 'Portrait Artist Of The Year' and 'Landscape Artist Of The Year' TV shows in 2013/2015 (reaching the semi-final in the latter). I've also produced commissions for people like Paul Smith Menswear,The Hepworth Wakefield, Sheffield Children's Festival, The Folk Forest music festival and Domino Records. I sell my work via my Folksy shop, my NOTHS shop, to various shops and galleries around the UK, and also at various Art/Craft Markets.I also have a facebook page too. Please come along and become a fan if you like my stuff!